Barriers and facilitators to healthy eating among college students

Abstract

Young adulthood is an influential life stage for developing lifelong eating patterns, yet limited research characterizes dietary intake among young adults. This cross-sectional study assessed dietary intake and characteristics associated with nutrition knowledge and healthy food consumption among college students. We hypothesized that healthy food intake would be lower than United States (U.S.) dietary guidelines and that perceived healthy eating barriers would be negatively associated with diet quality. Participants were undergraduate college students enrolled in an introductory human nutrition course (N = 762), with surveys administered during the first week of class. Survey instruments included the Dietary Screener Questionnaire developed by the National Cancer Institute and the Jones Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire. Perceived encouragement, cost, taste, and ease of eating healthier foods were assessed with questions from the National Health Interview Survey. College student daily mean intakes of fiber (15.46 ± 3.06 grams), whole grains (0.63 ± 0.29 ounce equivalents), combined fruits and vegetables (2.38 ± 0.73 cup equivalents), and dairy (1.49 ± 0.53 cup equivalents) were lower than U.S. recommended dietary guidelines, while mean intakes of added sugars (14.65 ± 4.01 teaspoon equivalents) were greater than recommendations. As hypothesized, dietary intakes of young adult college students were sub-optimal, not meeting the U.S. dietary guidelines for fiber, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and added sugars. Additionally, perceived ease of eating healthier foods, cost, and nutrition knowledge were significantly associated with increased consumption of healthier foods. Results highlight the need to reduce barriers to improve healthy eating among young adults.